Michigan's Upper Peninsula

[trbig]

On Sunday after the Wisconsin rally, A few of us (Bob Falter, Brent, Bohn Frazer, Arlan, Harry, and I) decided to do a few more days of riding. I was already a thousand miles from home.. might as well keep going, right? lol. We were heading to meet a member I hadn't met (Erik The Red) and he was going to be our tour guide for a couple days since he'd lived in the area and went to school there for his engineering degree. He's a very nice guy and extremely intelligent. It only took him 7 years to figure out which 4 year degree to get! lol..

On Sunday, we left Hayward, Wisconsin, and rode north up to Lake Superior. Brent and Bob along the lake.














We continued around the lake until we got to the Porcupine Mountains State Park in Michigan. We went over this bridge, and Harry's clutch cable broke. Since my fiasco in Arizona a couple months back, I now carry TWO clutch cables, so while he worked on that, I took some pics of the river. The brown color apparently comes from the cedar swamps upriver where the tannins leach out into the water.









On the southwest corner of the State Park, there's a small park with some trails that lead to some waterfalls. A nice walk through the woods to start off.














Not a bad view of the falls from the lookout point...









But I decided to hop the railing and get some better views and ended up with a couple of my favorite pics of the trip.














Up to some other falls and came upon Arlan, Brent, and Harry. Apparently Arlan has a secret for Brent he doesn't want Harry to hear.









Again, I hopped the fence.









Further downriver, this is where the river runs into Lake Superior.









Chipmunk not very scared of Harry.










To be continued...

[trbig]

We then mounted up and headed to the north side of the park where we were to meet up with Erik. The ride between the southwest section and the north part was some of the best roads we'd ridden since leaving home. No traffic and lots of curves, though the road had a few less than desirable spots, like a pothole right in the apex of a curve? lol. Anyway, we made it to the north section. Harry and the sign right next to Lake Superior.









Bob about to turn by Lake Superior.









We told Erik we'd meet him probably between 11-12:00. I think it was a little after 2:00 until we actually made it? Nice guy that he was, he didn't say "Screw them!! and ride off. We met at the parking lot of Lake of the Clouds. We walked up to the overlook which looked over a valley formed by a glacier.



















On the horizon 20 miles away, in the center of this pic, there's a mountain that has a ski jump like they use in the Olympics. Tough to see in the pics, but I tried to zoom in as best as I could with my little 5MP camera.














L-R Arlan, Harry, Bob.









Brent and Harry.














Back on the road with Erik in the lead on his '79.









Rolling into Houghton, Michigan, our home for a couple nights, it appears a scooter was leading us in at a blistering walking pace.









Downtown Houghton.









We found a place to park to get a bite to eat.



















We heard sirens going off, and turned to watch the bridge being lifted. We were expecting a big ship, but instead, this tiny sailboat came through.. lol.









The bridge in the normal position. During the summer months, the car traffic uses this lower level of the bridge. During winter, the bridge is lowered, and cars drive across the top section and snowmobiles, a major mode of transportation here in the winter, use the bottom section.

This bridge is the only way to get to Michigans Upper Peninsula. The people living there are called Yoopers, and the people living south of the bridge, or under the bridge if looking at a map are called Trolls. lol.









Off to the Ambassadore for a bite to eat and a cold adult beverage.














The view from the dining room.









We had a couple beers and dinner. The others went on to the hotel, and Harry, Erik, and I went a couple blocks down the road to the Keneeway Brewing Company (KBC) to sample a few of the local flavors. I recommend the Widowmaker black ale. Yummy!


To be continued...

[trbig]

After that, we went back to the hotel. Next morning, off for a bite to eat for breakfast before heading out.









Heading across the bridge, the steel grating made the front tire go where it wanted, not really where YOU wanted.














Erik actually teaches a motorcycle safety class. After riding most of the day earlier with us, he pretty much threw all that s#*t out the window.. A few laws may or may not have been broken.














He took us to an old abandoned brewery where we looked around at the rubble for a bit. Arlan is in the center of the picture.









I climbed up by an old chimney and could still smell the smoke inside.









Then we went to the small town of Calumet. Lots of old buildings.
























I took this picture to show what happens after several years of driving on salted roads. Then I saw the Tailgate. "A.H. was here" and figured Greg must have been there at some point.









This is a modern bridge made of wood. I thought it was pretty cool.














On the other side is an old wooden dam that was where a factory made fuse for the blasting in the mines.














Erik and his '79.









We stopped at a bakery that was operated by a bunch of priests. From their website:

"We are a Catholic Monastery of the Byzantine rite, under the jurisdiction of The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Nicholas in Chicago, and belonging to the Ukrainian Metropoly in the United States of America, which is in union with the Pope of Rome, supreme pastor of the universal Church. We embrace evangelical poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability of life, according to the Rule of Saint Benedict and the traditions of the Christian East."


I think I had beer on my breath still and probbaly thinking about my future trip to a Gay bar with Harry. More on that later, but fair to say I probably couldn't join them.









And this was their monastary just down the road next to the lake.









A shot across the bay and you can still see their roof.









Then it got cold and rained. Actually, I pulled off the road with some carb problems again. I pulled the carbs and went through them, finding that scuff marks on the inside of the float needle seats were causing the needles to stick and flood. While I had those off the bike and working on them, I noticed the weather quickly changing and told Erik, "That would suck if it started raining right now." So of course it started raining about 30 seconds later.

Carbs all fixed and thrown back on, off we went.









I had glanced this lighthouse through the trees as we were driving by. The highway we were on dead-ended, so while the others stopped, I rode back to get a quick pic of the lighthouse.












To be continued...

[IanDMacDonald]

Great stories and pics so far. My dad would have loved to accompany you guys if he was still alive on that trip. Just a bunch of older guys with the times in-common. Keep the pics coming.

[trbig]

We headed back south and got out of the rain. We stopped in to do a copper mine tour. That's a chunk of the ore under the sign.














We rode a trolly type vehicle that rode on tracks, but had a geared 3rd rail and a powered sprocket to pull it up and down the very steep hills. A regular train couldn't have made such steep grades. Pics don't show how steep it actually was. It was ummm... Steep. lol.














At the bottom of the hill, we loaded into a cattle trailer (Or at least seemed like it) and were pulled a 1/4 mile into the hillside.














Out of the cattle car and into the mine.









This guy gave a speach about the mine. That was a chunk of copper on the dolly.









But if you look at the map behind him, to the top left, you see where we are written in red. Notice the rest of the mine. We were at level 7, but there were 90+ levels. Unfortunately, all those lower levels are now flooded and the water seeps out here at level 7.









These are a couple of the drills used in the mine. The one on the left was nicknamed the Widowmaker. It created a lot of silica dust which is basically airborne tiny shards of glass that lodged in the lungs and killed many many miners. The drill on the right was the newer version that had water injected directly through the bit into the hole and knocked down the dust. When I went back to look at the pics.. for those of you who believe in the supernatural and the whole "Orbs" in pics thing...look over the top of the Widowmaker by the top wooden block! lol.









After coming back topside and riding up the hill, we left and went to dinner, then Harry, Erik, and I decided to go back to the KBC since there were some flavors we hadn't tried yet. After trying those, I still recommend the Widowmaker Black Ale. Erik on the way.....












To be continued...

[trbig]

The next day, everyone but Harry and I left town. Erik was going to peel off at the Sault Ste Marrie locks and go home, while the others rode into Canada and rode around the north shore of Lake Superior. Harry and I had plans to go stay with an aunt and uncle of mine that I hadn't seen since I was a child. I'd been chatting a bit with them on Facebook, and they said if I was ever in the area, there was free beer, food, and a bed. She should have shut up.. She had me at beer.

BUT.. before that, we'd heard of a Gay bar that we wanted to check out back up in Yooper territory. So across the bridge we went again. We saw some mining ruins and stopped for a pic. Not sure what this huge hunk of iron did, but it was bigger than the pic shows.














We finally reached our destination at last.... Gay Michigan! And you guessed it, they have a bar! lol.














We thought we were there too early, but they had just opened at 11:00. We figured it was 5:00 somewhere, so we grabbed a beer.









They have a website with assorted tacky sayings such as these shirts...














Did I mention this is really good stuff?? lol.









We watched a couple local Gays come in and grab a bite to eat. Another came in to buy a koozie, but with that northern accent, it sounded like he wanted a kozy.

Off we went headed south to Crandon, Wisconsin, where my relatives live. I saw a road-kill but turned around and went back to it. I decided that if you hit a porcupine, he might just get the final laugh with you and a flat tire.









Harry said he didn't have any current piercing fetishes, so we continued on. A couple of the roads were actually pretty fun. We finally made it to our destination to their home over a lake.









Me and my Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob.









Next morning, we got loaded up to leave and Linda got these pics. It is the middle of August and the frikkin temperature when we rolled out was 39 degrees! WTH!?!?














Harry and I headed south 520 miles to Des Moines Iowa. On Wednesdays during the summer, the zoo in Des Moines has what they call the Zoo Brew. Basically, at 5:00, they kick all the kiddies out, and from 5:30 until closing, it's 21+ only. They sell beer all over, and you can walk around and check out the animals, drink a beer, and not listen to screaming spoiled kids. Plus, they had a band playing. I didn't know how big a deal it was before we went, but it was fairly crowded. The zoo was really really small, but we had a good time.









A river otter posing for me.









I think we were interrupting "Sexy time".









A shot of Harry with a beer and a free sample of something... and apparently I unknowingly took a pic of one of the few white people that may be able to play in the NBA.









Sea Lion and Giraffes.














Gettin' checked for critters...









We took a little train ride around the place. The train pulled up, so we grabbed a seat. After the ride, we saw that we were supposed to have paid $2 a piece? lol. Oops. But in a tunnel where the train turns around, apparently every single person on the train knew I was about to take a picture in the dark? WTH!?!? lol.. I think the guy in the 3rd row may be an ax murderer.









We left the zoo before we got too tore up to ride back to our no-star hotel. Nothing like dirty towels, a roach or two crawling on the wall, and the fresh smell of curry floating in the summer breeze. Eh.. It was cheap-ish and the A/C worked. Next morning, Harry rode about 200 miles or so to Kansas City and waved goodbye. I had another 350 or so, but made it home just fine. Total for the whole trip was right at 3,000 miles. Had a great time and hopefully we'll go back to the Upper Peninsula again. My aunt told me to have everyone show up next time. Poor lady. Seemed sharp, but must be losing it.

[BA80]

Looks like y'all had a blast. I wish I would have had the time to ride along with you.

But then, you and Harry needed a little together time at The Gay Bar.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Tod,
Sounds like a great ride. Thanks for taking all the pictures and posting them
Phil

[Bigfoot]

The trip was awesome. Had a great time. Many thanks to Erik for acting as our tour guide. A couple pics to add to Tod's write up.

Big lion chilling out. Good thing about going to the zoo in the evening is the animals were actually awake.


Tod looking way too excited.


I think he finally felt at home.


My bike all loaded down for the trip north.


Arlan

[haywardguy929]

Looked like a great ride guys. Glad you enjoyed it and got home safe.

[STEPPENWOLF]

Thanks,I enjoyed the great story and pictures